Potato and vegetable salad with salsa verde butter
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 1
The salsa verde butter really is the star of this otherwise very simple potato salad. It makes a big batch of the butter, which you can keep in the freezer and use to pep up lots of simple meals with next to no effort (see Recipe Tips).
By Elly Curshen
Ingredients
For the salsa verde butter
- 125g/4½oz salted butter, very soft
- 15g/½oz fresh flatleaf parsley leaves, very finely chopped
- 1 tbsp nonpareille capers, very finely chopped
- 5 cornichons, very finely chopped
- ½ small garlic clove, very finely grated
- 2 anchovy fillets, mashed to a paste
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ lemon, zest and 1 tsp juice
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the potato salad
- 30g/1oz salsa verde butter (see above)
- 10 new potatoes, boiled until tender and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 150g packet frozen mixed green vegetables (such as peas, broad beans, edamame beans or green beans), defrosted
- fresh chives, finely chopped, to garnish
- 1 ball buffalo mozzarella
- lemon wedges, to serve
Method
Put the butter in a bowl and beat briefly until smooth and creamy.
Stir in the parsley, capers, cornichons, garlic, anchovies, mustard and lemon zest. Mix in the oil and then add the lemon juice.
Add a generous grinding of black pepper. Season with salt and more pepper, if needed. The anchovies and capers should provide enough salt.
Spoon the butter onto a sheet of baking paper and shape the butter into a log shape. Roll the butter in the paper into a tight log that is about 3–4cm/1¼–1½in thick, twisting the ends like a cracker.
Chill in the fridge until firm, then wrap in kitchen foil or place in a freezer bag before freezing for up to 3 months. To use the butter from frozen, slice portions directly from the butter log. One portion is a 3cm/1¼in slice or 30g/1oz and the log provides eight portions.
To make the potato salad, melt the salsa verde butter in a frying pan.
Add the potatoes and defrosted vegetables. Toss together until everything is hot and the potatoes are golden and starting to crisp.
Tip into a serving bowl and tear the mozzarella ball over the top. Garnish with the chives and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe tips
The salsa verde butter is also great for melting over grilled fish, prawns and other proteins, finishing roast courgettes, asparagus or broccoli, and spreading inside sandwiches or on toasted focaccia for an instant flavour boost.
The salsa verde butter can also be frozen in 30g/1oz portions in ice cube trays or small silicone moulds.
If using more than one portion of salsa verde butter, defrost the portions in the fridge.
The fresh chives can be frozen, chopped and then used directly from the freezer.
The potato and green vegetable salad can also be served with crumbled feta or torn burrata.
